


Sitdown

by ruasquirrel



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drabble, Fighting, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Speculation, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, venting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21797632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruasquirrel/pseuds/ruasquirrel
Summary: It had seemed like such a good idea, to begin with.--Short, speculative piece about the potential for Jasper and Steven's dynamic to turn into an unhealthy, ineffective coping mechanism.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 94





	Sitdown

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in like, 45 mins?? A short, quick concept that I just wanted to put out there before we see a canon resolution

It had seemed like a good idea, at the start.

Steven and Jasper, two gems with more pent up anger and frustration than they knew what to do with, both hardy and resilient, both capable fighters. Steven wanted to learn how to control his new power. Jasper wanted a worthy opponent. It only made sense that they’d spar on the regular.

It had been satisfying, even fulfilling, to begin with. Trading blows without having to hold back, channelling their pent up rage and expressing themselves through combat, pushing each other further and further, harder and harder until they exhausted their energy or ended up in a deadlock. He would smirk, and she would laugh and say ‘not bad’, and both of them got what they needed.

Until they didn’t.

As the days and the weeks wore on, sparring became dueling, then dueling escalated to all-out fighting. Rocks flew, trees came down in swathes, and the impact of each and every battle grew and grew until Steven could no longer find the energy to repair it completely. The two combatants no longer quipped back and forth, no longer exchanged backhanded compliments during semi-friendly sparring matches, but instead spat bitter, long-repressed words in between brutal, violent impacts. They knew each other’s weaknesses, and knew exactly how to exploit them to gain the upper hand. When they collapsed onto the barren earth, exhausted and numb, their physical wounds were no longer the only damage sustained.

Before, the exhaustion came hand-in-hand with a profound sense of relief, washing over him like a purifying flood. Though his body ached and his muscles were weary, his heart felt lighter, his mind felt clearer and his anger subsided to make way for a strange, mollifying contentment.

Now, his frustration stuck to him like a stubborn seed, clinging on in the hopes of being spread elsewhere. No matter how aggressively he fought, no matter how many punches he threw or how hard he threw them, he couldn’t wear out his anger like he used to. Not even the relentless pitter-patter of the rain against his face seemed to cool his searing agitation as he fell back and blinked the water out of his eyes between ragged breaths.

‘ _Something’s gotta give’_ , he thought.

Another bout, another round of unsatisfying and increasingly destructive attacks. Steven and Jasper, exhausted and sore, sat side-by-side on a log belonging to a recently downed tree. At this point, Steven couldn’t recall who had felled it. Jasper refused to look him in the face, so he took to passively licking his wounds, both physical and emotional, as the pair sat in relative silence. He must have said something really bad this time, but every match passed by in such a hurried blur that he couldn’t recall a single word. She, too, had taken things too far, leaving him bruised and bloodied in ways none of their previous altercations had.

‘This isn’t good for us’, he finally said.

Jasper gave no response.

A stray beetle crawled across the bark, and neither of them paid it any mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think it'll come to this in canon, but there's definite potential for these two to bring out the worst in each other.


End file.
